BILL NUMBER: AB 1813	CHAPTERED  09/27/00

	CHAPTER   725
	FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE   SEPTEMBER 27, 2000
	APPROVED BY GOVERNOR   SEPTEMBER 25, 2000
	PASSED THE ASSEMBLY   AUGUST 31, 2000
	PASSED THE SENATE   AUGUST 30, 2000
	AMENDED IN SENATE   AUGUST 28, 2000
	AMENDED IN SENATE   AUGUST 18, 2000
	AMENDED IN SENATE   AUGUST 8, 2000
	AMENDED IN SENATE   JUNE 21, 2000

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Wildman

                        FEBRUARY 3, 2000

   An act to amend Section 17072.13 of the Education Code, and to add
Section 25358.6.1 to the Health and Safety Code, relating to
hazardous substances.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 1813, Wildman.  School facilities:  site contamination funding:
  hazardous substance contracts.
   (1) Existing law authorizes the State Allocation Board to provide
50% of the costs of the evaluation of hazardous substances at a site
to be acquired by a school district and costs relating to removal of
the hazardous substances, not to exceed a prescribed amount, and to
provide funding for up to 100% of those costs by a school district
eligible for financial hardship assistance, not to exceed a
prescribed amount.  Existing law further authorizes a school district
that meets environmental hardship criteria, as specified, to apply
to the board for site acquisition funding prior to approval of
construction plans by the Division of the State Architect and State
Department of Education.
   This bill would provide that site acquisition funding for a school
district that meets environmental hardship criteria is subject to
the prescribed funding limits for the evaluation and removal of
hazardous substances at sites to be acquired by a school district,
and may not result in an increase in those funding limits to a school
district.
   (2) Existing law authorizes the Department of Toxic Substances
Control to prequalify bidders for remedial or removal actions taken
pursuant to the Carpenter-Presley-Tanner Hazardous Substance Account
Act, by adopting and applying a uniform system of rating bidders.
   Existing law requires a state agency head to select professional
services of private architectural, landscape architectural,
engineering, environmental, land surveying, or construction project
management firms pursuant to specified procedures.  Existing law
imposes specified requirements upon state agencies expending funds
for capital outlay projects.
   This bill would, notwithstanding those provisions, authorize the
department to advertise and award contracts for engineering,
architectural, environmental, landscape architectural, construction
project management, or land surveying services pursuant to the
hazardous substance act or the law regulating hazardous waste, if the
contract is individually in an amount equal to, or less than,
$1,000,000.  The bill would specify procedures for the selection and
ranking of prequalified firms and would authorize the department to
adopt regulations to implement those procedures.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:


  SECTION 1.  Section 17072.13 of the Education Code is amended to
read:
   17072.13.  In addition to the amounts provided pursuant to
Sections 17072.10 and 17072.12, the board may provide funding as
follows:
   (a) For 50 percent of the cost of the evaluation of hazardous
materials at a site to be acquired by a school district and for 50
percent of the other response costs of the removal of hazardous waste
or solid waste, the removal of hazardous substances, or other
remedial action in connection with hazardous substances at that site.
  Except as provided in subdivision (b), the funding provided
pursuant to this section may not exceed 50 percent of a number
calculated by subtracting the school district's cost of the site from
what the appraised value of the site would be after the response
action is completed.
   (b) The board may provide funding for up to 100 percent of the
cost of the evaluation of hazardous materials at a site to be
acquired by a school district eligible for financial hardship
assistance pursuant to Article 8 (commencing with Section 17075.10)
and for up to 100 percent of the other response costs for the site.
The funding provided pursuant to this subdivision may not exceed 100
percent of a number calculated by subtracting the school district's
cost of the site from what the appraised value of the site would be
after the response action is completed.
   (c) A school district with a site that meets the environmental
hardship criteria set forth in paragraph (1) may apply to the board
for site acquisition funding for that site prior to having
construction plans for that site approved by the Division of the
State Architect and State Department of Education.  The site
acquisition funding is subject to the funding limits provided in
subdivisions (a) or (b) and may not result in an increase in the
funding limits available to a school district under this section.
   (1) A project is eligible for environmental hardship site
acquisition funding if both of the following apply:
   (A) The remedial action plan for the site approved by the
Department of Toxic Substances Control, pursuant to Section 17213, is
estimated by the Department of Toxic Substances Control to take six
months or more to complete.
   (B) The State Department of Education determines that the site is
the best available alternative site.
   (2) The initial site-specific reservation pursuant to this
subdivision shall be for a period of one year.  Extension may be
approved in one-year intervals upon demonstration to the State
Allocation Board of progress toward acquisition.  In the event there
is not demonstrable progress, the State Allocation Board shall have
the option of rescinding the reservation.
   (3) Environmental hardship site acquisition funds approved by the
State Allocation Board can be used only for the site identified in
the remedial action plan approved by the Department of Toxic
Substances Control.
   (4) The date that the State Allocation Board approves the
environmental hardship site acquisition funding will become the State
Allocation Board approval date for the project's construction
funding for that site.
   (5) A school district may apply to the State Allocation Board for
construction funding for the environmental hardship site when the
project has received final Division of the State Architect plan
approval and final State Department of Education site and plan
approval.
   (d) The cost incurred by the school districts when complying with
any requirement identified in this section are allowable costs for
purposes of an applicant under this chapter and may be reimbursed in
accordance with Section 17072.12.  The site acquisition funding is
subject to the funding limits provided in subdivision (a) or (b) and
may not result in an increase in the funding limits available to a
school district under this section.
   (e) The State Allocation Board shall develop regulations that
allow school districts with financial hardship site acquisition
funding prior to ownership of the site or evidence that the site is
in escrow.
  SEC. 2.  Section 25358.6.1 is added to the Health and Safety Code,
to read:
   25358.6.1.  (a) For purposes of this section, the following
definitions shall apply:
   (1) "Engineering, architectural, environmental, landscape
architectural, construction project management, or land surveying
services" includes professional services of an engineering,
architectural, environmental, landscape architectural, construction
project management, land surveying, or similar nature, as well as
incidental services that members of these professions and those in
their employ may logically or justifiably perform.
   (2) "Firm" means any individual, firm, partnership, corporation,
association, or other legal entity permitted by law to practice the
profession of engineering, architecture, environmental, landscape
architecture, construction project management, or land surveying.
   (3) "Prequalified list" means a list of engineering,
architectural, environmental, landscape architectural, construction
project management, or land surveying firms that possess the
qualifications established by the department to perform specific
types of engineering, architectural, environmental, land surveying
services, with each firm ranked in order of its qualifications and
costs.
   (b) Notwithstanding Chapter 10 (commencing with Section 4525) of
Division 5 of Title 1 of the Government Code, the department may
advertise and award a contract, in accordance with this section, for
engineering, architectural, environmental, landscape architectural,
construction project management, or land surveying services pursuant
to this chapter or Chapter 6.5 (commencing with Section 25100), if
the contract is individually in an amount equal to, or less than, one
million dollars ($1,000,000).
   (c) The department may establish prequalified lists of
engineering, architectural, environmental, landscape architectural,
construction project management, or land surveying firms in
accordance with the following process:
   (1) For each type of engineering, architectural, environmental,
landscape architectural, construction project management, or land
surveying services work for which the department elects to use this
section for advertising and awarding contracts, the department shall
request annual statements of qualifications from interested firms.
The request for statements of qualifications shall be announced
statewide through the California State Contracts Register and
publications, internet websites, or electronic bulletin boards of
respective professional societies that are intended, designed, and
maintained by the professional societies to communicate with their
memberships.  Each announcement shall describe the general scope of
services to be provided within each generic project category for
engineering, architectural, environmental, landscape architectural,
construction project management, or land surveying services that the
department anticipates may be awarded during the period covered by
the announcement.
   (2) The department shall define a generic project category so that
each specific project to be awarded within that generic project
category is substantially similar to all other projects within that
generic project category, may be within the same size range and
geographical area, and requires substantially similar skills and
magnitude of professional effort as every other project within that
generic project category.  The generic categories shall provide a
basis for evaluating and establishing the type, quality, and costs,
including hourly rates for personnel and field activities and
equipment, of the services that would be provided by the firm.
   (3) The department shall evaluate the statements of qualifications
received pursuant to paragraph (1) and the department shall develop
a short list of the most qualified firms that meet the criteria
established and published by the department.  The department shall
hold discussions regarding each firm's qualifications with all firms
listed on the short list.  The department shall then rank the firms
listed on the short list according to each firm's qualifications and
the evaluation criteria established and published by the department.

   (4) The department shall maintain prequalified lists of civil
engineering, architectural, environmental, landscape architectural,
construction project management, or land surveying firms ranked
pursuant to paragraph (3) on an ongoing basis, except that no firm
may remain on a list developed pursuant to paragraph (3) based on a
single qualification statement for more than three years.  The
department shall include in each prequalified list adopted pursuant
to paragraph (3) no less than three firms, unless the department
certifies that the scope of the prequalified list is appropriate for
the department's needs, taking into account the nature of the work,
that the department made reasonable efforts to solicit qualification
statements from qualified firms, and that the efforts were
unsuccessful in producing three firms that met the established
criteria.  A firm may remain on the prequalified list up to three
years without resubmitting a qualification statement, but the
department may add additional firms to that list and may annually
rank these firms.  For purposes of annual adjustment to the ranking
of firms already on the prequalified list developed pursuant to
paragraph (3), the department shall rely on that firm's most recent
annual qualification statement, if the statement is not more than
three years old.
   (5) During the term of the a prequalified list developed pursuant
to paragraph (3), as specific projects are identified by the
department as being eligible for contracting under the procedures
adopted pursuant to subdivision (d), the department shall contact the
highest ranked firm on the appropriate prequalified list to
determine if that firm has sufficient staff and is available for
performance of the project.  If the highest ranked firm is not
available, the department shall continue to contact firms on the
prequalified list in order of rank until a firm that is available is
identified.
   (6) The department may enter into a contract for the services with
a firm identified pursuant to paragraph (5), if the contract is for
a total price that the department determines is fair and reasonable
to the department and otherwise conforms to all matters and terms
previously identified and established upon participation in the
prequalified list.
   (7) If the department is unable to negotiate a satisfactory
contract with a firm identified pursuant to paragraph (6), the
department shall terminate the negotiations with that firm and the
department shall undertake negotiations with the next ranked firm
that is available for performance.  If a satisfactory contract cannot
be negotiated with the second identified firm, the department shall
terminate these negotiations and the department shall continue the
negotiation process with the remaining qualified firms, in order of
their ranking, until the department negotiates a satisfactory
contract.  If the department is unable to negotiate a satisfactory
contract with a firm on two separate occasions, the department may
remove that firm from the prequalified list.  The department may
award a contract to a firm on a prequalified list that is to be
executed, including amendments, for a term that extends beyond the
expiration date of that firm's tenure on the prequalified list.
   (8) Once a satisfactory contract is negotiated and awarded to a
firm from any prequalified list for a generic project category
involving a site or facility investigation or characterization, a
feasibility study, or a remedial design, for a specific response
action or corrective action, including, but not limited to, a
corrective action carried out pursuant to Section 25200.10, the
department shall not enter into a contract with that firm for
purposes of construction or implementation of any part of that same
response action or corrective action.
   (d) The department may adopt guidelines or regulations as
necessary, and consistent with this section, to define the manner of
advertising, generic project categories, type, quantity and cost of
services, qualification standards and evaluation criteria, content
and submittal requirements for statements of qualification,
procedures for ranking of firms and administration of the
prequalified list, the scope of matters addressed by participation on
a prequalified list, manner of notification of, negotiation with,
and awarding of contracts to, prequalified firms, and procedures for
protesting the award of contracts under this section, or any other
matter that is appropriate for implementation of this section,
   (e) Any removal or remedial action taken or contracted by the
department pursuant to Section 25354 or subdivision (a) of Section
25358.3 is exempt from this section.
   (f) This section does not exempt any contract from compliance with
Article 4 (commencing with Section 19130) of Chapter 5 of Division 5
of Title 2 of the Government Code.
